Have H&H promoted bad practice?

J

JamesL

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In the issue of horse and hound for 2/7/2009 there was an interview with Robert Oliver who in his things i could not live without stated it was his steam cleaner which he uses to clean horses.

The cleaner shown in the photo claims to release steam at 150 degrees C and also advises that it is not to be used on people or animals. Further to this a while back there was an article where a showgroom gave the tip of using a pressure washer to clean horses, again the safety instructions of the product explicitly state not to use this on people or animals due to risk of injury.

Surely it is lazy journalism to publish something wothout researching whether this so called expert is doing something which is according to the manufacturers of the equipment could cause injury to horses.

H&H do influence what people do, most of us do make our own decisions but publishing it in such a magazine does validate peoles decisions to do such things.

Your thoughts?
 
did raise my eyebrows at that....a few years back I hired a hunter from a yard that used a pressure washer to clean the horses up when they got back. Would think there is a risk of burning the horse with a steam cleaner or even just making it sore with a pressure washer.
Not sure I'd have printed it....
 
with the pressure washer article people did write in and H&H responded by saying that they report and are not there to judge peoples pratices. However i believe that H&H do influence people and therefore have a duty to ensure that what they report will not indirectly cause harm to animals.
 
The steam cleaner I wouldn't use but I have used a pressure washer on my horse after hunting . You have to be sensible -if you pointed it at point blank range you are going to hurt the horse. We use it far enough away for it still to be effective. It clears all that sticky mud removes the sweat etc. When you have 7-8 horses to wash off it is a quick and efficient way to do them.
 
Good point. It is about how you use it. Not sure how you would use a steam cleaner on a horse without burning it but I looks as if he has a way, otherwise I am sure he wouldn't be using it!

Is is safe? I don't know and I wouldn't do it.

Are H&H promoting bad practice? No, where does it say go out and use a steam clearner on your horse? It doesn't. It just says this individual rider thinks they are invaluable. I am sure I don't do something just because an interview in H&H reports it.
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Cant comment on the steam cleaner as have no knowledge/experience of them. I used to work in a hunt yard that used pressure washers to clean the horses off after hunting, with cold water. I was shocked at first but when you have 2/3 people looking after a yard full of horses and upto 12 horses a day come back head to toe in mud it is the quickest way to clean them. Otherwise you have a queue of dirty, cold and tired horses waiting to be sorted out if you do it with a bucket of warm water and a sponge. It just takes alot longer to get them clean that way. They go into a hot drying box straight after and with a pressure washer you can get them much cleaner in just a few minutes. We were obviously careful not to hold it too close.

I wouldnt use them on my own horses though!
 
The point is not whether you can use it safely but surely you must understand that if Robert Oliver says he usues a steam cleaner or another trainer says he uses a pressure washer despite the manufacturers safety instructions explicitly say you should not use these for this purpose it will influence what some less thoughtful people do with their horses. The article does not actually say you should using it by associating a top show producer with the practice does promote the considderation of doing such things.

You can strip paint off a car with a pressure washer and there is the Anivac system if you do have a busy yard which is safe.
 
I agree with you, magazines/tv etc are very powerful marketing/promotional tools. Even if not meant to be. Association of a product with a person does create interest, even if its a bad thing.
 
steam cleaners may well be able to spurt water out at 150C and high pressure

BUT
that are its limits and they have varying settings of both temp and pressure, my dad cleans the farm collies in the winter with a steam cleaner on a slightly warm temp and very low pressure so not hot or high pressure worked fine no harm to dog and in fact they like it more than a hose thats cold and takes longer
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Maybe they should have asked him how he does it safely or printed an editor's note explaining what to do and what not to do. I'm tempted by the pressure washer now that people have said that doing it from a distance is ok - my grey horse gets filthy and seems to sweat mud some days!
 
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